First Brit jailed for film, TV piracy (Link)
A 38 year old man who goes by the name of Anton Vickerman as noted in the article was the first Brit to get arrested for Film & TV show Pirating in Violation with the U.K.'s Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact). The British man who operated The Website linking to pirated films and TV shows has been sentenced to four years in prison, following a private prosecution brought by the U.K.'s Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) The British man was sentenced on Tuesday at Newcastle Crown Court, in North East England, after being convicted in June on two counts of conspiracy to defraud by facilitating copyright infringement. The conviction carried a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Why is this important at all? Well it proves that those "Ridiculous" laws that are tossed around by government officials are in effect and were not tossed around to scare people. This comes to prove that the worlds governments with these kinds of laws are strictly enforcing them instead of just having them there making the government look pretty. I'm impressed by the actions taken by the British in order to execute websites that can significantly hurt the industry and dealing with the host of such said websites. For every TV Show and or Movie that is illegally downloaded, that's money the film company loses. If the movie is $10.00 and you download it illegally for free, that $10.00 the company loses. This would very rightfully piss me off if i worked for that company that got robbed of $10.00. As a consumer, illegal pirating leads to lower priced movies the older they get. Like the music industry, a popular artists' new Album can be significantly cheaper now than if it was released 10-15 years ago but that's a different subject. This raises questions in the industry and ne of them might be "What can we do to stop pirating?" or "What drastic measures can we enforce to stop illegal downloading and promote the purchase of our products?" The answers of these questions are at a high chance being answered by the pros at Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and other companies. As for me, the questions that impact me are, "When will the pirating go away?" I don't like to download illegal copies of films. i would rarther pay $30.00+ dollars for a movie that not only comes with a Blu-Ray Copy of the film but a DVD copy and a Digital Download.
This is a really great post because their are hundreds, and thousands of people that are illegally downloading these products everyday, and mostly 90% of the time people are doing this without even realizing it because they have been doing it for so long. But their can be a change, only if everyone who feels the same way puts the word "out there".
ReplyDeleteYeah man like COME ON! on iTunes an album is USUALLY 10-15 Bucks. a single song can be from .99 cents to $1.99. That's a really good deal if you think of the money you have to pay if you lose the lawsuit or get ticketed for copyright infringement. I Would rather pay 1 dollar for a clean copy of a song than 10,00 dollars for that same song plus 5+ years in prison.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly my belief. We need to find a way to shut these illegal pirating websites down. They are causing the movie theatres to close down as well. Id prefer to pay the $20 a ticket at the Arcklight in the galleria than watch it on my laptop illegally. You lose the experience of a real movie, and you are just as guilty as a person who robs a bank when you watch movies illegally
ReplyDeleteIf one streams a movie illegally on a laptop, you cant get that smell of buttery popcorn and the loud surround sound in every theater. I rather se a movie on a huge screen than on a small laptop screen. I also would prefer to pay any price for that matter for a movie ticket, i get to enjoy a movie and smell popcorn too!
ReplyDeleteGreat Article! I agree with you Alex because I wouldnt want someone to take my work for free or 5 bucks from the guy in LA. People work really hard to get a film out and I feel they deserve their share of the money.
ReplyDeleteWow! Alex's opinion is so true. I wouldn't like it if people would be stealing from me whether if it is 10 dollars or 100,000 dollars. People now a days download music illegally all the time. But the thing is that maybe if music industry and film industry were to stop having movies and music for such a high price then maybe people wouldn't do it. I mean if they can't do that then they should make deals. People feel that they have no other choice then to download them illegally because the prices are so high for a movie.
ReplyDeleteWhile yes i agree the punishment is outrageous . Ten years im sorry that's just to harsh . I get the whole losing money thing , but to be punished worse then trying to assault someone with say a weapon . Are you kidding ? The industry should try and find a way to discourage it , not try and stop it . Doing so would make people want to do it even more . Look at say drug addiction people feel compelled ( especially teenagers ) to do said drugs to spite someone or to feel "Alive" . The Industry should try to give extras for the bought copy or if it comes down to it limit some things ( Sadly)
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